Surfing the Skies
by Soko-chan
Summary: What will happen when Aliera falls in love with the airships' captain? will she be able to ignore her feelings, and how will the other passengers feel about this romance?
1. beneath the ship

_Surfing the Skies_

Part one

Well I am not new to writing fanfic's, but I was bored so here is the result! This is a FFXII fanfic as I have not been able to find one on TFFF, and that makes me sad so here is the pain of my efforts! Please enjoy! :D (The characters belong to Square Enix, all apart from my char, Aliera, she is mine!)

I walk along the metal corridors of the back quarters of the airship we are riding, there was an argument going on up on the deck between Filo and Kytes so I decided to get outta dodge before I got involved in it, through my choice or not.

I enjoy the clanking, metallic sound my boots make on the floor and smile, I turn a corner to reach my quiet place, and area cast in shadows where no one else goes, so I can enjoy the silence.

I scream as I see something moving, melting into the shadows, I am completely unarmed, so I am open for attack, and too far away from the deck or any other inhabited area on the ship for my pleads to be heard.

"Quieten down! It's only me!" I hear a familiar voice say, I can breathe again,

"Vaan! What are you doing here?" I ask, my shock turns into annoyance that there is someone else in my quiet area, that means he knows where it is and can easily come back to break the silence I can only get in the shadows below the deck.

"I was exploring my airship, is that a crime?" Vaan asks me, a slight irritating tone is noticeable in his voice,

"No, it's just that-"

"Just that what?" Vaan cuts in,

"Nothing," I say and sigh, he will never learn to listen!

"I thought so," he says a triumphant smile spreading across his face, "but can I ask you why you are down here?" he finishes, a look of curiosity on his face.

I don't know whether to tell him the truth or not, he would probably find out anyway, and cause exposing my quiet area to the rest of the crew,

"This is where I come to get away from the world," I say, "it's quiet down here, and dark so it makes you more aware of yourself and your surroundings, gives you time to think"

"Think about what?" Vaan asks, he is very curious now, and he's got a mischievous glint in his eyes,

"stuff in general," I reply, as if I was really gonna tell him exactly what I think about, Vaan doesn't look satisfied with the answer I gave him, great!

"Are you sure?" he asks me,

"Yes I am sure, now go away!" I say, irritated, he may be the captain, but he is annoying, and so I just give it to him as it is, unfortunately, this doesn't usually have the desired effect on him as I hope it will, it either sends him to the point of annoyance that I am driven to the edge, or even worse! It makes him into me! Aggh why me? I don't know, I think it's because I am straight with him, I tell him what I think about him when I think it, instead of acting like Penelo and the others, trying to find the 'tactical' way of expressing how annoying or rude he is being, I don't have time for faffing around and wasting breath, and brainpower to think of such things, so there you go,

I try and think of a way to get rid of him, I don't want to walk away, because he will see this as an opportunity to annoy me even more, and he might even come back here to look for me, so instead I hold my ground.

Just as he is about to speak the airship drops down suddenly, my heart is in my mouth, and I am getting dizzier by the second, I sit on the floor in a daze,

"Get up!" Vaan orders me, "If you sit down you will pass out!" he shouts over the noise of the engines roaring,

"What's happening?" I shout, my eyes are streaming, am I crying? I dab at my eyes to brush away the tears.

"There's a malfunction with the engines, let's go check it out, there must be some sorta control thingy down here to fix it!" he grabs hold of my arm and drags me down the corridors, I pray to the crystals we will be alright...


	2. an unwelcome surprise

As we dart along various corridors and walkways we reach a small section of the airship I have never been in before,

"Where are we?" I ask Vaan, shouting over the noise of the engines, I am a little nervous and my stomach is still churning, as we are still falling- rapidly.

"Well Kytes and I have been here before, there is a control... Panel! That's the word, a control panel down here that sorts the engines out or something," Vaan shouts back.

"For someone who claims to know so much about airships we're looking pretty dim right now!" I shout Vaan shoots me a look of anger and continues to move us down the walkway; we come to a section that has pipes hissing and various other clanking noises,

"Are we almost there yet?" I shout my breaths are coming slower and are much harder to inhale; I am growing ever dizzier by the second,

"Not yet, just one more turn!" Vaan tells me,

"I need to sit down!" I say and I drop to the floor,

"Get up!" Vaan pleads with me, "That's an order!" He finishes after a while,

"I can't! Please, keep going, do what you have to do!" I say, I look up to see what appears to be tears in Vaan's eyes,

"Come on Aliera! Come on!" He shouts, he shakes my shoulders, I can't hold on any longer, my world goes black.

I feel myself being moved, where am I? I try and open my eyes, but they are too heavy, So I just hang there, limply, I am getting sick from the swaying motion, but I just can't bring myself to move, suddenly I am deposited on the ground, or some sort of hard surface, but gently,

"Aliera?" I hear my voice being called, it's distorted but it seems so near, I try and speak, but I can't feel the words in my mouth.

"Come on, come back to me Aliera!" I hear the voice again, I suddenly realise who it is,

"Vaan?" I croak, my voice is weak,

"Thank the crystals you're safe, I thought I'd lost you there for a minute" He tells me, his voice is wavering, I bring myself to open my eyes again, Vaan's eyes are moist and his face is tear-stained,

"Were you crying?" I ask him, trying to laugh, but the sound that came out was far from pleasant,

"Yeah, I was" Vaan says, completely missing the joke,

"But why?" I ask him, it's not like him to confess to anything, let alone crying!

"I was worried about you, I had to go and fix the airship, otherwise we would've all plunged to our deaths, you passed out and I had to leave you, when I sorted everything out I came straight back here, you were just slumped here against the wall where I left you, you were so cold, I was worried that... That you were gone" Vaan finishes, his voice trailing away,

"That's so sweet" I tell him and smile, he smiles in return, I try and hug him but my body won't move, he knows what I want to do and pulls me into a hug,

"This is nice" I tell him honestly,

"Yeah it is," Vaan pulls me away from him and looks into my eyes, He leans in as if he is about to kiss me but suddenly draws away,

"Let's go and see if the others are ok" I tell him and smile.


	3. strange feelings

We walk together back through the metal walkways and corridors, at the time I had dismissed Vaan's closeness due to us both being in shock, but now I am not so sure, he seems to be walking closer to me, and his stance is defensive as he walks slightly more in front of me.

I feel my face turn pink and look at the ground as we make our way back to the party, as we near the trapdoor that leads from the machinery back onto the deck of the ship I catch Vaan's eye and I see something there, he looks at me like he would do anything for me, I feel the atmosphere get awkward and try and pretend that I didn't see anything, I just made it up, that's all, but I know deep down I didn't.

Vaan is first out of the door and back onto the deck, he reaches down for my arms, I grab his and ungracefully haul myself out.

Everyone is standing on the deck, when they see us they great us, they each have a look of shock on their faces, and Llyud is walking in circles in the corner; we discovered this little quirk of his a while back, that when he got stressed out or scared he would walk around in a circle until he practically dug a pathway in the floor, or until one of us stopped him, I walk over towards him and shake his shoulders, he pricks his head up as if he didn't know that I was there, he looks into my eyes and smiles at me.

"I didn't know if you would come back" He tells me,

"Of course I would!" I tell him and laugh, he brushes a strand of hair out of my eyes, I jump back involuntarily, Llyud has never really even made eye contact with me let alone physical contact, everyone else notices it too and Penelo gives me a sly grin.

I turn to face Vaan and notice that he doesn't look to happy at him, a sudden childish instinct comes over me and it is all that I can do to stop myself from sticking my tongue out at him.

I have no feelings for any of the boys on the airship, no matter how hard they try, that is I think I don't anyway, I look panicked back over my shoulder at Vaan, my head is reeling, am I absolutely sure that I don't have feelings for any of the boys on-board, not even Vaan?

I am so confused, I need to sit down, I slump on the floor in a confused heap, Vaan instantly runs over and falls to his knees, his metal shin-pads screeching unpleasantly on the floor, I wince at the noise, Llyud just stands there, dumbstruck, Penelo walks over and herds him away, he follows after her, he doesn't know what to do and almost starts circling again, but Penelo sees the signs coming and holds his shoulders still.

"Are you alright Ali"? Vaan asks me, I flush; I have never been called Ali by anyone! Vaan seems to notice that he has slipped up too and Kytes and Filo are stifling laughs unsuccessfully in the background.

"I am fine Vanny" I say in sarcasm, he flushes red and then gets to his feet, he hold out his hand and I take it to stand,

"I need to go and man the wheel" Vaan says still bright red and awkwardly stumbles through the door and away to the head of the ship.

"Ali eh?" Penelo winks at me,

"Shut-up!" I laugh.


	4. alone time

I stand on the balcony leading out from the deck, I had to get away from Penelo and Kytes as they wouldn't give me the end of it all, Filo went off to make fun of Vaan, and I suppose that Llyud is right where I left him, I breathe in the warm air, the airship is stationary right now, Vaan says that we will be departing soon so get some air whilst you can.

I look back through the tinted windows of the airship, I can vaguely make out the shape of Penelo talking to Llyud, I know it's Llyud 'cause I can see the wings, unless we have an aegyl stowaway the slipped on-board.

I turn back around and look out over the land, Lemures is a beautiful place, maybe one day I'll come back here and settle down, no, I don't think I ever will, I'd rather live my life in the skies, I am staring out into space when a noise brings me back down to Earth.

"It's only me" I hear Vaan say, I turn around and see him furiously blushing,

"Wow Vaan, I didn't know you could turn that colour" I say blankly, he turns around and curses,

"Are you leaving?" I ask him, I hope he goes; he's caused me enough embarrassment, and unwanted 'feelings' for him.

"Um, no, um, not exactly" he finally manages to get out.

"Well then what are you here for?" I ask, the sooner he tells me the sooner he leaves, so I might as well hear him out.

"Well, I wanted to make sure you were OK, after what I called you on the deck" he returns once more to his shade of red.

"Yeah, I am fine, but why?" I ask him, looking into his blue eyes,

"Well, I've always called you Ali in my head and I guess it just slipped out..." Vaan trails away,

"That's sweet" I say, revealing my light-hearted and carefree nature to him, even though I'm supposed to be in a bad mood, he smiles, flashing his brilliantly white teeth at me.

"That's ok then?" He asks, laughing,

"Yeah, but if you call it me again I will make you sorry for it" I warn, then I burst out laughing, Vaan follows suit, laughing until he is crying, why is he trying so hard? It was never that funny, that only makes me laugh more, so I have to lean back on the railings, Vaan walks over to me and leans beside me,

"I'm gonna miss this place" he tells me, looking over the lakes and valleys, a couple of birds fly overhead, their exotic calls echoing across the vast space.

"Yeah, me too, I was thinking about maybe coming back here to settle down one day, but then I realised my place is here in the skies" I finish.

"You can if you want too" Vaan tells me, turning to face me, this is weird...

"Yeah, but I'd much rather stay in an airship, not held back by anything.. or ANYONE" I say, trying to convince myself as well as warning Vaan to keep his distance.

He doesn't seem to notice and walks closer to me, I press myself up against the barrier, hoping somehow that I will melt through it, Vaan holds my arms and puts his face close to mine,

"You know we never finished what we started in the under quarters of the ship" he says, tickling my face with his hair, I feel my body give way, I can't fight it anymore, Vaan seems to sense it and draws me closer to him, what am I doing? I- I can't do this, I...

Vaan seizes the moment and kisses me, his soft lips brushing mine, my thoughts just melt away with the kiss, and I am shocked to notice that I am kissing him back!

After what seems like hours we pull away from each other, breathing heavily,

"Wow.." Is all Vaan can say, I just stare with my mouth hanging open like a brain-wiped goldfish.

"Y-yeah" I splutter, Vaan takes my hand in his,

"It's getting cold out, let's go inside" he says and we walk back into the airship.


	5. caught!

We walk back onto the deck, Penelo and Llyud are in deep conversation, Filo and Kytes are giggling about something in the corner of the deck, they start laughing loudly and cover their faces as they see us coming, I walk over to Penelo and start to make conversation.

"You did WHAT!" I hear a paranoid shout that can only be Vaan's I turn around to watch what happens, sometimes his little tantrums can be quite amusing.

Llyud and Penelo also turn to watch the mini drama,

"Why must he shout?" Llyud says blankly,

"I have no idea" Penelo replies and laughs.

"That's right we saw you!" Filo laughs and points her finger at Vaan.

Wait! What did she say? Did she see? Oh may the crystals save my soul!

"Yeah that's right we saw you and Aliera... And you were kissing!" Kytes squeals, he is definitely amused and he and Filo don't look like they're going to stop there.

"Shut-up!" Vaan says to them, giving them his death-stare, usually that would shut them up immediately, but they are having far too much fun to stop.

I turn and look at them; my mouth hanging open, Penelo is sniggering behind me,

"What is so funny Penny?" I ask her,

"N-nothing" she snorts trying to regain control over her laughter, I look at Llyud who has a smirk over his face, oh great! Even he thinks it's funny.

Vaan is desperately trying to get Filo and Kytes to go away; eventually he succeeds in shooing them.

"Have fun!" Filo chirps over her shoulder as she and Kytes retreat to the bunks.

I just stare at Vaan and he looks back at me, great! Now the whole crew knows, Penelo has gone next door to regain herself, and Llyud is behind me, blankly staring out of the window.

"What just happened?" I ask Vaan, my face is blushing furiously, and anyone would think I was on fire.

"I believe we have been caught" Vaan says, and then I start laughing in a nervous wreck, what is happening to me! This guy just ups and kisses me and now I can't keep away from him! Grr I wish that I had anima like Llyud, and then I wouldn't have to feel like this,

Wait, Llyud? He's looking at me funny, I turn around, Vaan is too busy trying to calm himself down to notice what's going on behind him.

"Are- are you ok?" I ask Llyud, he looks so lost and desolate, "Have you lost any memories?" I ask him,

"No, I am getting new ones..." He trails away, I am in shock, how can Llyud remember anything? We had to help him remember everything he knows, he can't possibly remember anything before we met him.


	6. I can remember

"What do you remember?" I ask him intrigued; this isn't plausible it can't be happening! How can someone lose their memories and yet remember more? It makes no sense!

"I can see my people they are running away from something, I cannot see what it is, I hear children crying and my people are falling all around me! Make it stop! Please make it stop!" Llyud starts shaking uncontrollably; I have no idea what to do! I try and make him look at me but he avoids my eyes,

I am at a loss, so I just wrap my arm around him under his wings, his shaking eventually lessens and he hugs me back,

"Thank you Aliera, you always know what to do for others in their times of need" He says and wraps some loose hair of mine around his fingers, I don't notice at first but after a while I realise what he is doing.

"Llyud... what are you doing to my hair?" I ask, I am bemused, Llyud has never acted so- so caring before.

"I have always wanted to hold your hair" He tells me and looks directly into my eyes, his look is so powerful that I am forced to look away.

"wh-whaddya mean?" I ask him, I am so confused right now.

"Aliera... I love you" Llyud says and makes eyes contact with me again, whatever I was expecting it sure as hell wasn't that!

"Llyud... no!" I say and push myself away from him, I can't do this! I love Vaan right? Or do I? I look back at the aegyl sitting in shocked silence on the floor, my heart pangs for him, this cannot be happening!

I run away from it, down the corridors to the one place I know I'll be safe... below the deck.


End file.
